HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan had 25 points and 12 rebounds and
triggered the key surge as the San Antonio Spurs extended their
dominance of the Houston Rockets with an 85-75 victory.

Duncan, who recored his league-leading 13th double-double, made
11-of-18 shots and started the key fourth-quarter run just as he
started the game -- with a layup.

With the Spurs clinging to a 62-61 lead, Duncan hit his bucket
with 8:08 remaining to begin a 12-4 run that widened the margin
to nine points with 4:55 to play.

"It was a win," Duncan said. "It wasn't pretty and we didn't
play our best basketball, but we kept it together and we got the
win. That's all that matters."

The Spurs beat the Rockets for the 12th time in the last 13
meetings. They did it by jumping out to a 17-2 lead over the
first five minutes and holding on despite managing a franchise
record-low eight points in the second period.

"It was nothing but us missing shots," Duncan said. "We had some
great open looks in the second and third quarter, but it was
just a matter of us not getting those to fall in."

The points were a season low for the Rockets and the fewest the
Spurs allowed this season.

"Defensively we did a great job," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
said. "When you keep someone under 80 points, that's a heck of a
job. We just need to get our offense going."

Houston has lost five straight games, the last three without its
injured starting backcourt of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.
The Rockets have lost each of the last eight games that Francis
has been sidelined and are 0-4 dating back to last season when
both he and Mobley miss a game with injuries.

"We missed 25 layups," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.
"They had a lot to do with it, but if we make five of those,
it's one heck of a game. We kept our composure and if effort and
desire can get you a win, we should've had one."

San Antonio's David Robinson registered his second double-double
of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"Coming off last night (a 109-106 overtime home loss to
Sacramento), we wanted to get back in it," Robinson said.
"Defensively, we wanted to come out strong. We held them under
40 points in the first half and that's good. Offensively, we
were a little slow but we got it going when it counted."

Terry Porter tied his season high with 11 points. Porter tallied
seven points in the fourth quarter.

"I thought Terry did a great job generating offense down the
stretch," Popovich said. "I thought he was the key."

The Rockets, who never led, were paced by a season-high 21
points from rookie Oscar Torres, his third straight game in
double figures.

Kenny Thomas added 21 points and eight rebounds for Houston,
which made a season-low six free throws and committed a
season-high 22 turnovers.